1898 Wilmington race riot report - Page 276

251
sending ministers to visit northern churches
and donors. 72
It is unknown what path local church
leaders followed in the months following the
riot but the national A . M. E. Zion church,
led by men such as North Carolina’s Bishop
James Walker Hood, sought to bridge the
gap between opposing viewpoints within the
church as to how African Americans should
deal with the “ race question.” At one
extreme was Booker T. Washington who
preached temporary surrender of voting and
civil rights in favor of educational
improvement. Opposing Washington were
others such as Timothy T. Fortune who
pressed for nothing less than full equality for
blacks and justice for those who had been
hurt by white mobs. The A. M. E. Zion
church chose to encourage a middle- of- the-road
path – encouraging education,
economic prosperity and dedication to a
long- term goal of equality and unlimited
freedoms for blacks. 73
Although several ministers had been
targeted to leave the city as a result of their
active participation in Republican Party
politics, many remained. Of these some
likely took a less conspicuous position in
political debate or sought to adopt a stance
considered less militant in the eyes of
whites. In 1915 the ministerial union, which
was dissolved in 1898, was re- formed. The
new union followed the example set by the
earlier group and sought methods to
organize the city’s churches in order to
72 In 1899 Mt. Olive was undergoing remodeling. In
1901, St. Mark’s raised funds for its programs and for
repairs to the chancel and rectory through a
presentation of a melodrama at the Opera House and
by sponsoring a trip by its pastor to Washington,
Baltimore, Philadelphia and New Jersey. Reaves,
Strength Through Struggle, 112, 134.
73 Bishop William J. Walls, The African Methodist
Episcopal Zion Church: Reality of the Black Church,
( Charlotte, N. C. : A. M. E. Zion Publishing House,
1974), 507- 511.
provide leadership to the community in all
matters, religious and civic. 74
A study of the leading churches in
the city, based upon the 1897, 1900 and
1903 city directories, shows that most of the
city’s African American church
congregations survived the violence and
continued to function in various sectors of
the city. 75 Only one congregation in the city
– St. Thomas Catholic Church – was racially
integrated in the years surrounding the
violence. However, the white members of
the congregation turned the church over to
its black members in 1911 when the new St.
Mary Church was completed. 76 Some
74 The ministerial union was dissolved after the coup
and violence of 1898 because it was perceived by
white leaders that the ministers who participated in
the union worked to develop Republican Party
backing within their congregations as well as to
organize a united, and potentially armed, resistance to
the white supremacy campaign. As evidence, white
leaders pointed to the ministerial union’s public
support of Alex Manly as well as the fact that several
ministers were also leading members of the county’s
Republican Party. For more on the ministerial
union’s involvement in pre- election matters, see
Chapter 4. Reaves, Strength Through Struggle, 143.
75 Andrew Kraft studied Wilmington’s churches in
his geographic study of the city. Two of his maps
charted the city’s white and black churches using the
1897 and 1903 city directories. Comparison of his
maps indicated that some African American
churches, found in the 1897 city directory either
moved or were displaced by white churches by 1903.
However, study of the lists of churches in the city
shows that he incorrectly identified two churches, St.
Paul’s Protestant Episcopal Church and the Fifth
Street Methodist Episcopal Church as African
American churches when, in fact, they were white
churches. A new comparison of the city’s churches
before and after the violence of 1898 using the city
directories, Sanborn maps and Reaves, Strength
Through Struggle shows that although some churches
went through some reorganization and name changes
following 1898, the locations and basic religious
framework established before 1898 remained in place
following the violence. See chapter 1 map of African
American churches.
76 Reaves, Strength Through Struggle, 121 – 122;
Wrenn, Wilmington, North Carolina: An
Architectural and Historical Portrait, 224- 227.

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251
sending ministers to visit northern churches
and donors. 72
It is unknown what path local church
leaders followed in the months following the
riot but the national A . M. E. Zion church,
led by men such as North Carolina’s Bishop
James Walker Hood, sought to bridge the
gap between opposing viewpoints within the
church as to how African Americans should
deal with the “ race question.” At one
extreme was Booker T. Washington who
preached temporary surrender of voting and
civil rights in favor of educational
improvement. Opposing Washington were
others such as Timothy T. Fortune who
pressed for nothing less than full equality for
blacks and justice for those who had been
hurt by white mobs. The A. M. E. Zion
church chose to encourage a middle- of- the-road
path – encouraging education,
economic prosperity and dedication to a
long- term goal of equality and unlimited
freedoms for blacks. 73
Although several ministers had been
targeted to leave the city as a result of their
active participation in Republican Party
politics, many remained. Of these some
likely took a less conspicuous position in
political debate or sought to adopt a stance
considered less militant in the eyes of
whites. In 1915 the ministerial union, which
was dissolved in 1898, was re- formed. The
new union followed the example set by the
earlier group and sought methods to
organize the city’s churches in order to
72 In 1899 Mt. Olive was undergoing remodeling. In
1901, St. Mark’s raised funds for its programs and for
repairs to the chancel and rectory through a
presentation of a melodrama at the Opera House and
by sponsoring a trip by its pastor to Washington,
Baltimore, Philadelphia and New Jersey. Reaves,
Strength Through Struggle, 112, 134.
73 Bishop William J. Walls, The African Methodist
Episcopal Zion Church: Reality of the Black Church,
( Charlotte, N. C. : A. M. E. Zion Publishing House,
1974), 507- 511.
provide leadership to the community in all
matters, religious and civic. 74
A study of the leading churches in
the city, based upon the 1897, 1900 and
1903 city directories, shows that most of the
city’s African American church
congregations survived the violence and
continued to function in various sectors of
the city. 75 Only one congregation in the city
– St. Thomas Catholic Church – was racially
integrated in the years surrounding the
violence. However, the white members of
the congregation turned the church over to
its black members in 1911 when the new St.
Mary Church was completed. 76 Some
74 The ministerial union was dissolved after the coup
and violence of 1898 because it was perceived by
white leaders that the ministers who participated in
the union worked to develop Republican Party
backing within their congregations as well as to
organize a united, and potentially armed, resistance to
the white supremacy campaign. As evidence, white
leaders pointed to the ministerial union’s public
support of Alex Manly as well as the fact that several
ministers were also leading members of the county’s
Republican Party. For more on the ministerial
union’s involvement in pre- election matters, see
Chapter 4. Reaves, Strength Through Struggle, 143.
75 Andrew Kraft studied Wilmington’s churches in
his geographic study of the city. Two of his maps
charted the city’s white and black churches using the
1897 and 1903 city directories. Comparison of his
maps indicated that some African American
churches, found in the 1897 city directory either
moved or were displaced by white churches by 1903.
However, study of the lists of churches in the city
shows that he incorrectly identified two churches, St.
Paul’s Protestant Episcopal Church and the Fifth
Street Methodist Episcopal Church as African
American churches when, in fact, they were white
churches. A new comparison of the city’s churches
before and after the violence of 1898 using the city
directories, Sanborn maps and Reaves, Strength
Through Struggle shows that although some churches
went through some reorganization and name changes
following 1898, the locations and basic religious
framework established before 1898 remained in place
following the violence. See chapter 1 map of African
American churches.
76 Reaves, Strength Through Struggle, 121 – 122;
Wrenn, Wilmington, North Carolina: An
Architectural and Historical Portrait, 224- 227.